A day in the life of a homesitter

Posted on 28 November, 2016

Cat herding

Homesitters are employed by our clients to look after their home and keep it safe and secure when they go away, as well as care for any pets.

But what does the role typically involve?

As well as keeping a home safe and secure, homesitters provide care and companionship for pets and maintain their usual routines. Many of our clients have dogs, so walking them once or twice a day is usually part of the role. Homesitters are also required not to leave the home for more than three hours at a time so a pet will never be left on their own for long.

They are also required to take telephone messages and deal with any callers to the home or let in the cleaner or gardener.

They are expected to keep the home clean and tidy and also do some light gardening duties including water plants.

Of course, they also have spare time too so they get the chance to explore the local area and its attractions and catch up on their hobbies including reading, cooking and painting.

One of our homesitters, Ann King even got the chance to pick up a new skill – herding cats!

Ann has been working with us for over 20 years and has a regular client in Hampton Court in Surrey. Here she describes one of the first homesits she did for them.

Ann told us, “On my first stay the owner asked me to put the three cats in the kitchen at night – I was literally ‘herding cats’! One of the female cats was rather nervous and used to climb up the curtains and sit on the curtain rail to avoid me. I tried everything, even lining up treats along the floor to the kitchen, but she was too canny for that.

In the end I used to creep down the stairs later and find her asleep on a beanbag and I’d carry the whole beanbag – with her on it – into the kitchen. It was a real battle of wills. I learned that sometimes with cats you just have to sit it out and be patient!

The male cat, Theo, was the complete opposite; he wasn’t shy at all and was very affectionate. When I was watching television he would sit on the back of the sofa behind me and massage my head – and he’d put his arms round my neck and give me a hug, it was lovely. If I stayed in bed any later than 7 a.m. he’d remind me it was breakfast time by patting me on the face.

I’ll never forget the morning that I came into the kitchen to find the extraordinary sight of the three cats sitting around in a semi-circle watching a mouse who was quite happily drinking out of their water bowl!”

If homesitting sounds like a role for you, we are always looking for reliable and responsible people to join our team.

To find out more on becoming a homesitter, please click here or call our Head Office on 01296 630 730.  

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